You didn't have to get me anything
by Sunshine-M
Summary: Missing scene from 5x01, Carol gives Daryl his crossbow back much to his complete and utter amazement


**A/N: This is an answer to the follwing prompt at Nine Lives: Hello Caryl writers! If I had any sort of ability to write I'd try it myself.. but would like to see the brief moment between the hugs and the walk back to the cabin when Carol maybe shyly (or proudly?) hands over the crossbow.**

**And Daryl is maybe awed, humble or still in shock that she saved them AND got his weapon..and says to her "you're a real piece of work lady" in a sweet/amazed way..and Carol tears up when she remembers him saying that before..**

TWDTWD

His nose was still full of her, of her precious perfume, eau de Carol, mixed with some eau de Walker, but his nose was blocking that nastiness, and all he could smell is her. He missed her so much. When Rick exiled her, it took all his will power not to go after her and punch their not so enlightened leader, but he had thought that if Carol had let him exile her, then maybe she had thought she deserved it.

Daryl knew Carol by heart. She was his heart so it was only fair he would know her that well. It still blew his mind that people hadn't realized that they were a thing. He knew people thought they had some sexual tension to resolve, but if they had really been watching, they should have seen it was resolved. While on the road that would lead them to the prison, Carol and he had started... necking. Too many people around to do anything more, and getting eaten by a walker mid coitus had never seemed worth the risk. When in the prison, they hadn't advertised it, had had separate cells, but once he had thought she was gone and he had found her again, they had exchanged I love yous. Finally, after they had taken down Woodbury and the Governor had been on the run, Daryl and Carol had been able to have the moment they had been talking about since before the prison.

He wondered why he was recapping their history. She was there, just fucking there. She had rescued them from Terminus, and she was there.

He had hugged her, had cried in her embrace, not caring about what the others may think. Their fault they were so inobservant in the first place. He had hated having to let her go so she could hug everybody else. A lifetime with her in his arms wouldn't be enough, so a hug obviously fell short, but he would take whatever he could take.

They were walking to the place she wanted to take them, and she appeared next to him. She had always be so discrete, he supposed that was Ed's fault, as she had needed to be able to run away from him while she still could.

"Daryl," She said.

They had so much to talk about. They were not one of those couples who did everything together. Maybe they would be one day, but right now they were just not that couple. They were two people who had found each other as the world was ending, and whatever what going on between them evolved in a different shape that something expected before.

He looked at her, wanting to hug her, kiss her. Maybe just bury his nose in her neck and hug her tight, to make up for the time they had been apart. He could see in her eyes how much she had missed, but he also could see fear, and that was just wrong. She should never be afraid of him.

The more he looked at her, the more he realized it was not him who was scaring him, it was something else, like she was anticipating his reaction to something.

"Here," She said, and from somewhere beneath her poncho, she pulled out his crossbow.

He was not a man of many words, and he found himself staring.

"I saw it at Terminus, and thought..." Carol said. "Well..."

She looked insecure, and shy, when she should have been cocky, and wondering what her superhero identity would be.

"You're a real piece of work," he said, echoing previous words and erasing their previous meaning. "Did you fix us dinner too? Are we going to come home to a 7 courses meal while we're at it? Because I have no say, right nothing would surprise me."

She had saved them all, and she had managed to grab his crossbow. To think she used to think she was weak...

"Sure, I fixed you dinner, and I made cake and coffee. While I was at Terminus I also grabbed some needles and yarn and I repaired all your socks which had holes in them. While I was bringing down the place."

"You were always all about multitasking," he said, with pride shining in his eyes, hoping she could see it.

This was the woman he had fallen in love with, and kept falling in love again day after day.


End file.
